


Clawthorne School for Wayward and Cursed Children

by Blimbgis_the_Turgled



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/F, Fluff and Angst, x-men au sorta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blimbgis_the_Turgled/pseuds/Blimbgis_the_Turgled
Summary: The Clawthorne School for Wayward and Cursed Children is a safe isolated environment for children affiliated with unique curses.Au where the Boiling Isles is in our world and Witches live amongst humans
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda & Willow Park, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha & Willow Park, Eda Clawthorne/Camila Noceda
Comments: 23
Kudos: 141





	1. Chapter 1

"Ugh, I don't wanna do this!" Eda complained

"There's not much choice for you here, Edalyn, there was always only so much I could do to cover for you. Hiding you at Hexside is one thing, but breaking international law is something else entirely" Bump sighed, his arms crossed as he watched Eda pace back and forth across the room.

Eda had broken a law forbidding magic used against humans while overseas, especially when it resulted in the death of a human. She insisted it was in self defense, but the courts wouldn't have it. 

"You can either go to prison for life... _ or _ " Bump paused for dramatic effect "you can help other children who are afflicted as you are"

* * *

Eda accepted the proposal, and with government funding, a new school was established on an artificial island off the coast of the Boiling Isles, "The Clawthorne School for Wayward and Cursed Children" it was called. It would serve as a safe isolated environment for students who suffered from transformative afflictions, such as curses like Eda had. In exchange for accepting the offer, she was freed of her curse, but she was forced to take an Everlasting Oath to never use her magic unless absolutely necessary. It made her life harder, but Eda was no stranger to roughing things.

After the school was completed, Lilith served as Eda's on-site "parole officer", to further assure she would abide by her new situation.

She really didn't want to do this, she was never one for affection, and she didn't know how to handle kids of any age, so for all she knew, this could be a decade or more of absolute torture and drinking for her.

But that was until the students first arrived, the first being a young afrolatina girl named Luz Noceda.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: my phone tried to autocorrect "afrolatina" as "agrolatina" when I was writing this


	2. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the school year begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to Techcaliber on discord for beta reading this chapter, thanks duderino

Part of Eda's job was that she had to interview each student individually, and for this it was easy to put on a false, proud front. The first ferry brought about a dozen kids to her doorstep, so-to-speak, only one among them was a human, a young girl named Luz Noceda.

Luz was the first kid she interviewed, and one among five that stood out most to her, the others being Gus Porter, Willow Park, two twins Edric and Emira Blight, and finally, Amity Blight. The Blights had been cursed by their parents, Odalia and Alador, as some form of cruel and unusual punishment, Willow and Gus claimed they had been cursed by accident, but Luz? Her case stood out most to Eda and was the one that raised eyebrows.

Luz had been cursed in her sleep.

That was enough of a revelation that caused Eda's facade to crack and create an uncomfortable silence. Not even Luz's mother, Camila, knew who did it, despite having studied curses for her job as a nurse.

After the other students had been interviewed and gone through orientation, they were moved into the dorms on campus. Eda sat in a lounge chair in her office, a glass of American Whiskey in her hand, Camila joining her.

Camila was a middle-aged woman who had known Eda previously from a get-together, but they hadn't really been involved in each other's lives much. A product of this was Eda being surprised at learning that Camila had a child...though she found out in the worst way possible... admission into the school.

"Here's to the official opening of this fine institution" Eda raised her glass, speaking a mock-british accent and Camila did the same as she giggled

"Eda, if I may...you looked surprised when Luz shared her story with you...why?" she asks

Eda glanced over to the woman, who was wearing maroon and gold scrubs with the school's owl emblem embroidered above the breast pocket.

"I, well...I saw some of myself in her...I was cursed the same way...in my sleep and her story caught me off guard" Eda confessed "I have the benefit of knowing who cursed me...but Luz...she doesn't have that and it scares me"

"Is there still liquor left, sister?" Lilith asked as she entered the office "or are you just starting?" 

Eda gestured to the third lounge chair that was still empty.

Lilith collapsed into the soft chair and groaned, a cacophony of popping came from her joints. She accepted a glass of the amber liquor and took a sip. "This is really it, isn't it?" Lilith said 

"It is" Eda said "I had my reservations about this but hey, maybe this'll work out"

"The Blights are one of the worst cases we've had yet...I can't even imagine what kind of people their parents are to do that to their own children" Camila said with a frown

"I can" said Eda "Odalia and Alador...two of the worst witches you'd ever cross paths with... Alador is emotionally dead, and Odalia puts family image above anything else...made Amity dye her hair green to match her siblings" she took another sip "hard to believe they used to be so passionate about magic in our Hexside days"

Camila made a face that looked to be a cross of anger and sorrow "those two better hope they don't set foot on this island"

Eda liked the fire she saw in the Latina's eyes, and hoped that the heads of house Blight never had to face the wrath of Camila Noceda.

* * *

Luz finished unpacking her things in her room. She was sharing a dorm room with two witchlings, Willow Park and Skara Werner, who were sitting on the couch in their common area, browsing on their scrolls. Before they had unpacked, the three of them had made introductions and found out what their curses were.

Willow had a swamp beast curse that caused her body to grow flora that had to be kept in check. Skara had a more minor curse that made her incredibly hypersensitive to sounds. It was enough that she could not viably live in a well-populated area without being subjected to intense pain and vicious migraines. Supposedly, it was because of a mishap with Bard magic, but she seemed too embarrassed to talk more about it.

Luz eyed the feathers on her arms, she had a vague idea of what her curse was, something similar to their principal's former curse. Bird curses like the one Eda Clawthorne used to have, were far and few across the world, the ones that can be found can only be acquired for hefty sums, and their results were always dangerous. The first time she had transformed was on her 15th birthday...she had almost killed someone before she was subdued after a struggle and administered an elixir. Her mother had compared her cursed form to that of the owl beast Eda Clawthorne had once been cursed to become, but built far more aggressively then the one the former Owl Lady had once turned into.

Eda had been very sympathetic with her, more than any other principal she'd met before, the kind of sympathy that came with experience.

Luz took a bottle of elixir from the fridge in the kitchen, and chugged the bitter brew, noticing her feathers disappear slowly while she grimaced at the taste. She wondered how their principal could have possibly endured the taste for as long as she had.

She offered her roommates a couple bottles before she left to get ready for bed. Before she drifted off to sleep, she wondered if things could get better. She had a larger support network here, and people around her who could understand her...or at least understood what she was experiencing.

* * *

Orientation was held the next day for the few students who were present. This would happen for each boat group, and would happen again tomorrow while the current students were in class. Most of it was going over rules, a tour of the campus, and then they got to know each other. Until now, the only people Luz knew were Willow and Skara, but soon she met a young boy named Gus Porter, who‘s father, Perry Porter was helping with the news coverage for the school. Gus had an infectious personality and it took about two minutes tops for Gus to be integrated into the friend group.

Off to the side, they were watched by Amity Blight, who rubbed her arm as she wished to join them, but a side effect of her upbringing meant she was socially awkward and didn’t know how to approach them...that was, until her own siblings gave her a push...more literal than figurative.

She had their attention now, and no way to back out, so she greeted them nervously...and what happened afterwards wasn't as torturous as she envisioned it would be, she was able to catch up with Willow and even begin to rekindle their friendship. Turned out that Odalia and Alador had essentially imprisoned Amity in Blight Manor after her refusal to break ties with her friend. 

Continued defiance, as well as the fact her siblings tried to defend her, ended with Odalia using ancient curse scrolls from the family archives on the three siblings. Amity doesn’t know what else happened that night because her siblings were too afraid to elaborate, but it ended up with Alador in the hospital, the three siblings in a 7/11 about 8 miles from their family’s manor house, and Amity smelling rather heavily of ice cream for some reason. 

Sometimes Amity didn’t want to know the context for that night

* * *

Despite all that put her here, Luz was starting to settle in comfortably with her new situation. She was thrilled to discover that the school was teaching subjects exclusive to the Boiling Isles, in addition to human-made ones. Even though she couldn’t do magic like a witch, she managed to get classes in all nine Coven tracks, becoming the first multitrack student at the school. Even more encouraging was the fact that Eda was considering expanding the program and allowing more students to multitrack.

Luz was flourishing here, her mother was impressed and overjoyed with how much better her grades and mood were at this school, compared to her previous school. Here Luz had the support of friends who loved her for who she is. Camila could see a light in her daughter’s eyes that she hadn’t seen in years. During one of her days off, she met Luz’s new friends and discovered that not only had they helped Luz become her best self, but she made an enormous positive impact on their lives in return with her energetic bubbly demeanor.

Even though it was because of the wretched curse that Luz was here in the first place, Camila was grateful that it had led to her daughter finding true friendship for the first time in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I'm reusing the version of the Owl Beast Curse I made for Agony of an Apprentice


	3. New Faces and Old Wounds

The second boat arrived the next day, carrying ten children. Three of them were humans that had fallen victim to a curse plague that was turning them into Abominations. Boscha Eventide was on the ship, bearing the curse of lycanthropy. Boscha was an acquaintance of Amity’s that her parents had forced her to befriend, and had quite the reputation at her previous school, Hexside.

Boscha had once been the captain of Hexside's Grudgby team and a school celebrity, but here, she had none of that...no fame and certainly no Grudgby here...one of the conditions of the school's founding had been that Grudgby would not be played on the island. Boscha ended up retreating into herself, her proud front gone with the wind as she continued to process the abrupt changes to her life.

Boscha’s curse caused her to turn into an extremely rare type of werewolf called an Albino Mooncrest. In her transformed state, she had fur silvery as moonlight, eyes as blue as the most exquisite sapphires, and a light blue crescent mark on her chest…she was also 8 feet tall when in this form. When she had first transformed, it was during a game of Grudgby, and she ended up attacking all the players before she had been hit with a sleep spell. She woke with no recollection past the first five seconds prior to her transformation.

“The first transformation is always the most painful” she remembered Ms. Clawthorne telling her, her tone laced with a wisdom borne of experience. She assured her that they would do their best to assure she didn’t transform again. So long as she took her elixir regularly, she would be fine.

But things might not be fine. Boscha’s old demons confronted her almost immediately, seeing Amity and Willow in the same vicinity immediately reminded the pink-haired witch of all the bullying she had subjected Park to and for the first time in her life, Boscha had absolutely no clue what to do.

* * *

Eda had been enjoying a movie night with Camila, as they had a few convenient free hours to themselves. Eda wasn’t sure when it happened, but at some point during the second movie, Camila had snuggled up to the older witch, and Eda tried to convince herself that the heat rising in her cheeks was from the maybe too-warm blanket covering her. Not that she was succeeding in doing that though...

Their moment was interrupted when they had received a call from the UN, talking about a new arrival for the school. So here they were, standing at the docks during a storm, with several guards, underneath a magitech barrier shield to protect them against the boiling rains, as she awaited the arrival of the third ferry...except it wasn’t a ferry, it was was a military ship, the JS-Asagiri, carrying one passenger...safely locked inside a heavily modified and armored containment unit about the size of a shipping container, and escorted by a fully armed team of Navy SEALs and JSDF soldiers. 

The vessel docked and a shrill metallic roar came from the container, making Eda cover her ears in response. A triclops wearing a military uniform of a United States Marine approached Eda, his pins indicating he was a four star general. As the container was offloaded from the ship, the creature inside pounded on the steel hull of its prison in a vain effort to escape, making severe dents in the metal...which the marine claimed was impressive given that the armor on the container was solid steel about a meter thick.

The marine casually gave Eda the context for the visit. The occupant of the container was another teenager with a curse, the worst yet encountered, and Eda was to help her rehabilitate and recover. Her…there was a person inside

"This is a test, Ms. Clawthorne, from the higher-ups. If you can help this child, they'll be willing to grant you more leniency regarding your...situation" the marine told Eda, and handed her a dossier labeled “[CONFIDENTIAL]” on the front. 

The container was taken aboard a funicular to a sub-basement under the school, installed during the construction of the artificial island. Eda was able to read the file during the ride, thankfully, whoever was inside the container had stopped screaming like a vicious monster, and Eda was able to read in relative peace.

The girl was named Yuki Sanguis, an artificial hybrid of three different species, witch, demon, and vampire. The girl had been retrieved from an anti-government terrorist base, where she was kept sleeping in a heavily drugged state until she was to be used as a living weapon of some sort. Based on the report, she possessed an extremely powerful cryokinetic ability and was immune to its effects. Her curse seemed to be transforming into a beast twice the size of the Owl Beast she once transformed into, but was extremely hyper-aggressive and could turn corpses into monsters. Additionally, her muscular density was far greater than what she had seen exhibited in Luz Noceda, who could lift 50 tons. The report went into detail of how her destructive power would have caused greater devistasion then if the terrorists had bombed a city

Eda was beginning to think this might not work out, but pushed the thought aside and remembered how she enjoyed challenges, and despite how daunting this might be, it was just another challenge to conquer.

* * *

The school was abuzz about the newest arrival that was going to be introduced during the friday morning assembly. Eda emerged onstage and greeted her students before telling them of their new arrival who was a transfer student from central Japan.

The new student walked onstage for all to see. She had four obsidian horns, two over her head and two running along her cheeks, her hair was crisp white like fresh fallen snow and had a silvery sheen, her lower jaw occasionally split into a pair of mandibles, and her cobalt skin was adorned with angular black markings. Her three eyes were icy blue with black sclerae. A tail with three sharpened black spines near its end, flicked left and right like a cat’s would while the spines flexed. After she reached stage center, her three eyes scanned the audience, each moving independent of the others. She bowed and introduced herself in her native tongue, which an interpreter translated. After introducing herself, she attempted a smile that seemed closer to baring her teeth, which were razor sharp and metallic.

Despite her awkward introduction, nobody seemed to be put off, embodying the school’s motto “us weirdos have to stick together”.

* * *

Willow kept seeing Boscha every now and then, but this time things were a far cry from their original meetings. For one, Boscha seemed to be afraid of Willow, and the latter noted that Boscha seemed somewhat lost now that everything she had built herself upon...her school fame, her Grudgby skills, had been swept out from underneath her. Willow almost pitied her...but remembered how cruel Boscha had been to her..and so she wasn’t ready to face her...yet.

During History the next day, Willow and Boscha were seated next to each other by the cruelty of the assigned seating rule, and tried their best to ignore each other for as long as possible.

"I'm sorry" Boscha said to Willow in a weak voice, almost inaudible

“Sorry...what?” Willow asked, confused

“I-I’m sorry for everything...Half-...Willow” Boscha stopped herself from saying the dreaded nickname she usually used for Willow

Willow scoffed "if you think that makes up for the years of suffering you put me through, you can take that apology and shove it up your ass" she said, coldly

The bell rang and Willow left the room, leaving Boscha alone.

* * *

Luz ended up in the infirmary with Boscha after the latter had messed up a brew in Potions class, creating a poison that the two girls accidentally inhaled. Luckily for them, Camila was skilled in brewing antidotes, but wanted the girls to rest as the poison had sapped much of their strength. Boscha, nervous as ever, had difficulty falling asleep, but sleep eventually won over.

Boscha would later wake to the sound of glass breaking and feral chittering in the room, and the first thing she saw was a monster covered in brown feathers and had a mouth full of teeth like knives. Given that Luz had disappeared, Boscha panicked at the implication, but was too scared to check for remains.

Its sharp claws created gouges in the floor with seemingly minimal effort. It appeared to be trying to figure out how to get out of the room, pausing every now and then sniffing the air while its glassy black eyes scanned the room. 

Boscha, making as little noise as possible, began inching her way to the door to escape the creature in the room. When she did reach her goal she cheered internally, but to her horror, the door was locked….and the creature noticed her.

Boscha frantically tried to get the door open as the beast prepared to pounce, and managed to get it open in time, only just managing it a fraction of a second before the beast pounced.

* * *

Most of the students had already gone to their dorms or the “town” on the school’s campus around this hour, but some hung around in the school itself, getting last-minute tasks finished before going to relax wherever. Willow was one of these types of students, getting her Plant track work finished up for the evening.

* * *

“Was that too harsh of me? She did want to make up after all…” Willow said aloud, remembering Boscha’s apology earlier “but then again she is the one who spearheaded the bullying directed at me for a couple years''

“Nah, you weren’t harsh” said Jerbo, a dual-track student in Abominations and the Plant track “you have a right to be angry with her”

“You don’t have to accept her apology...but I gotta admit I want to see where this goes” said Amelia, another of the Plant track students “I think I like this new Boscha”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Willow said thoughtfully “I guess I could at least think it over...maybe I should tell Boscha then?”

As if on cue, the girl in question ran past the classroom screaming while being pursued by an Owl Beast. Eventually, Boscha ran into Yuki, who was on her way to the dorms, and begged her to run

Moments later, the owl beast turned the corner and saw Yuki, roaring and then running at her with an impressive burst of speed. Yuki’s eyes glowed an intense, bright blue, and the floor froze over with a sheen of thin and incredibly slick ice, causing the creature to lose its footing and slide towards the transfer student. Yuki snapped her fingers and the owl beast was instantly frozen in a thick column of ice, while the temperature in the room immediately began to drop drastically.

By the time the faculty had arrived it was about -10° fahrenheit in the hall, barely anyone else had stuck around as it was too cold, but Yuki, as stated in her file, was unaffected by the cold. Yuki made a hole in the ice so the unconscious beast could be retrieved from the miniature glacier, and be administered an elixir, causing the creature to turn back into Luz, who groaned as she stirred.

“Ugh...what happened?” she asked and noticed the scene around her "uh...oops"

"Mija, you forgot to take your elixir again" Camila said in an exasperated voice

Luz's head hung as she apologized to her mother, while Boscha was in the back wondering how such a nice kid could become such a terrifying monster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can have little a Camileda...as a treat


	4. A Night on the Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and her friends enjoy a night on the town
> 
> Featuring a lil' Lumity

Deep in one of the sub-basements, Camila's team of medical researchers was inspecting a blood sample they obtained from a sleeping Yuki, intending to figure out what they could do to remedy her affliction. Yuki's blood revealed that her body possessed recombinant properties, reinforcing what the report said about her origins. Additionally, they found out what triggered her curse , and although they were able to prevent her from fully assuming her cursed form, the sounds the girl’s body had made when transforming was sickening at the least, and horrifying at the worst. For now, they agreed to monitor her, keeping their findings confidential. 

* * *

During Luz's Beast Keeping class today, a new teacher’s assistant had been brought in to help the students, Hexside’s Top Student in the Beast Keeping Track, Viney Griffon. Viney was a dual track student under the Beast Keeping and Healing tracks, and she had a pet griffon named Puddles, that was specialized in performing and assisting with healing magic.

Luz and Viney immediately hit it off, quickly becoming friends and soon friends with the rest of her friend group. Viney, being well-versed in all subjects of the Healing track, was able to figure out all the group's curses. For instance, she immediately picked up on what Gus' curse was after observing him for a short amount of time...Gus was afflicted with a curse that caused information to be inputted into his mind at an uncontrollable rate, and always resulted in him experiencing painful sensory overstimulation. Gus claimed it was because he handled a cursed artifact on a trip with his dad.

Luz also tried to get Amity to open up more, the greenette finding it extremely difficult to resist Luz’s bubbly personality and the puppy dog eyes the girl gave her...so she caved. Luz was an exceptional teen, and unapologetically passionate about what she loved, one thing being the Azura series, which instantly became the bridge to them becoming friends as they gushed about the books...and then they would lay the groundwork for founding their private "Azura Book Club", held in Luz's dorm, or a secret room in the library.

* * *

The following wednesday, the school closed due to a pixie infestation, and until they cleared out the pests, classes were cancelled temporarily. Luz suggested to her friends that they have a “night on the town” to unwind and have fun. 

Amity wanted to say no, and go back to her dorm to study, but again, those damned puppy dog eyes were impossible to say no to...and so here she was, an hour later, walking over to meet the others at the karaoke lounge, called "Tibbles' Tunes".

Amity wasn’t expecting too much from a karaoke session, aside from mild embarrassment, as she entered the building, but wasn’t surprised when she entered Room 2, and saw Luz and Skara belting out the chorus to Heros on Fire while Gus and Willow cheered them on.

What did surprise her was the sudden intense look Luz quickly flashed her way, as the human was caught up in the mood of the song, and Amity felt her heart skip a beat.

Luz was right in the end, about unwinding. After a couple rounds of sodas, wings, and singing the theme from the Azura anime with Luz, Amity let her inhibitions drop entirely, and she was on the start to having the most fun then she'd ever had before.

They'd dropped by an arcade afterward and lost more games then they'd won, but they didn't care. Luz at one point racked up so many points on a skee-ball machine that she was having difficulty wrestling control of her bundle of tickets, even with Gus's help. Luz got a large pink bunny for Amity, because it was "as cute as her", and with a flushed face, she accepted it.

"What?" Amity asked Willow, who was giving her a soft smile

"It's good to see you again...like this, laughing and having fun" Willow said "I missed this...I missed you" 

Amity returned the smile and was suddenly enveloped in the strong arms of her friend 

"I missed you too" Amity said back, quiet enough so only Willow could hear "I really needed this".

Later they all got a group photo together to commemorate the night. 

After Luz and her roommates returned to their dorm, they all crashed on the couches, suddenly sapped of energy and too exhausted to get into their actual beds. Willow wished the others a good night, but Luz was already out like a light, making the plant witch snicker before turning in for the night.


End file.
